That was a good thing, because Mike Antonovich preferred not to wear elbow pads. He didn’t like to wear shoulder pads, either.

Antonovich was a bare-minimum sort of guy when it came to protective gear.

“There was no equipment back then,” the former Greenway wunderkind said. “Are you kidding me? I never wore any of that stuff. I did when I got to college only because I had to.”

At first glance, the bespectacled Antonovich looked like the sort of mild-mannered, out-of-his-league player who could use all the extra padding he could get.

Think Clark Kent on ice. Only smaller.

Mike Antonovich of Greenway ranks sixth in state tournament career scoring with 22 points. Courtesy photo

As a high-schooler, Antonovich stood 5-foot-5 and, after a hearty meal, weighed 140 pounds. Hardly the sort of dimensions that have opposing players quaking in their skates.

Size didn’t matter when the puck dropped. Opponents learned quickly the smallest kid on the ice had the biggest game. Not for a lack of trying, they also discovered they couldn’t hit what they couldn’t catch.

There was no keeping up with Antonovich.

“He could shoot, he could deke, he was great on breakaways,” said Jim Hoey, a former Raiders forward who graduated a year behind Antonovich. “He was just a magician with the puck.”

Antonovich was a sophomore when he burst on the statewide scene, leading upstart Greenway to the 1967 state championship in the tiny Iron Range school’s third appearance in the state tournament.

Antonovich had two goals and three assists in the three games, including a goal and an assist in the Raiders’ 4-2 victory over previously undefeated St. Paul Johnson in the championship.

He was even more dominant the following year when, as a junior, he led the tournament in scoring with nine points (three goals and six assists). Antonovich had two goals and two assists as Greenway routed South St. Paul 6-1 in the championship game to join Eveleth, Roseau and International Falls as the only schools that had won back-to-back titles.

“I can remember watching International Falls beat everyone in the early '60s and saying, ‘I hope that changes,’ ” Antonovich said. “That’s what we wanted to be, high school hockey players.

“The future was working in the iron mines for 99 percent of us. We thought getting to the state tournament was the cat’s meow.”

Antonovich was the catalyst of the Raiders’ quick-strike offense. He would glide to openings in the neutral zone and wait for touchdown lobs from his defensemen. Antonovich just as often hit his linemates with those same vertical passes.

“I played on a line with him for half a season,” Hoey said. “I must have had about a dozen breakaways from him getting me the puck.”

Antonovich wasn’t afraid to venture into the corners. He said he had wanted to be a middle linebacker on the football team but discovered there wasn’t a high demand for 140-pounders at that position. So he spent his autumns focusing on grouse hunting, then got his fix of hard hits through hockey.

Mike Antonovich of Greenway, left, scored 23 goals in 32 games as a freshman at the University of Minnesota. Star Tribune file photo

“He could take some punishment, and he wasn’t afraid to dole it out either for a little guy,” said St. Paul Johnson’s Doug Peltier, who played against Antonovich twice at the state tournament before the two became teammates at the University of Minnesota. “He was very strong for his size -- tough to knock off his feet.

“He was definitely a great player.”

Greenway was gunning for a third straight title in 1969 when it was upended by South St. Paul in the quarterfinals. The Packers scored on a shot from outside the blue line with 19 seconds left to beat the Raiders 4-3.

The loss was difficult to stomach for the intensely competitive Antonovich.

“That was probably the most devastating moment in my life,” Antonovich said. “Oh boy, I can remember that like it was yesterday. That is the only bad memory I had from the state tournament.

“I’ve never seen the footage of that game, but if my memory serves me right we had Tom Peluso hit the goalpost right after they scored. I think we had two really good chances in those last 19 seconds.”

Greenway beat Mounds View 4-1 (Antonovich scored all four goals) and Minneapolis Southwest 3-2 (on an overtime goal by Antonovich, his second of the game) to win the consolation title.

Antonovich again won the tournament scoring title, this time finishing with eight points on seven goals and one assist. He was named to the all-tournament team for a third straight year.

Antonovich’s 22 points in nine games ranks sixth in state tournament history.

An instant star with the Gophers, Antonovich scored 23 goals and added 20 assists as a freshman. He played three seasons, totaling 45 goals and 40 assists in 77 games before turning pro.

Drafted by the Minnesota North Stars in 1971, Antonvich instead chose to play for the rival Minnesota Fighting Saints. He scored 20 or more goals in each of his first seven pro seasons.

Antonovich played in 87 NHL games and had two brief stints with the North Stars. He retired in 1984 and has been a full-time scout for the St. Louis Blues for the past 15 years.

He is serving his second term as mayor of Coleraine, where he lives with his wife, Sandra.